Interior hatband



July 14, 1925.

C. H LOISELLE INTER F OR HATBAND Original Filed April 1'7 1924 INVEA/TOL z a4 ze I BY 7 Q W ATTORNEY Patented July 14, 1925.

'U Nl TED S T A TiE S CAMILLE H. LOISELLE, 0E FIJORENCE,

MASSACHUSETTS.

INTERIOR HATBAND.

Application filed April 1'7, 19%, Serial No. 707,032.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CAMILLE: H. LolsnLnn, a citizen ofthe United States of America, and a resident of Florence, in the county of Hampshire and State of hiiassachusetts, have invented a new and useful Interior Hatband, of which the followin is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in pneumatic bands designed'to taketheplace of the ordinary sweat-bands on he inside of straw, felt, and other kinds of hats,-and consists of an annular, tubular or hollow member which comprises an outer side adapted to fit against the inside, vertical surface of the hat, and an inner side of special and peculiar construction that allows a portion to'be distended inwardly beyond all other portions of the same, when said hollow member is inflated, and an inflating tube for said hollow member, with means to close said tube, all as hereinafter set forth.

The aforesaid hollow member at the bottom is provided with a sewingor stitching edge which is reinforced or made thicker than certain other portions of said member, and the inner side of said member just above such thickened portion or stitching edge, is made thin to provide what may be termed a hinge which enables the hollow member to be turned downwardly out of the hat, or facilitates such operation. The tubular member is turned downwardly whenever it is necessary to inflate the same. The ,portion of=the-inner side of the-hollow member that comes into contact with the head is made of very thin material, thinner than all other parts and portions, with the possible exception of the hinge, of said member Said inner side is reinforced or made thicker both above and below the thin, head-contacting portioinin order to obtain the necessary strength and durability and the upper portion of said sine, while not as thick as said reenforoed parts, is, nevertheless, .thicker than said head-engaging portion and thus insures the proper and required inflation and inwardprojection of saidhead-engaging portion.

The tubular membcr of the band may be made of any suitablematerial or materials, such as fabric consisting of rubber having a silk face. The inflating tube istpreferably made of verythin rubber in order .to enable thesameto lie asflat as-possible between the Renewed April 14, 1925.

outer side of said tubular member andthe contiguous side of the hat, when the band is inplace within said hat.

The primary object of my invention is to provice for a hat an interior band whioh'is capable of fitting snugly and securely a head of any size and shape within reasonable limits, and this without binding the head to the point of discomfort or-of impeding the circulation of the blood.

Another object is toproduce a :hat band of this character which is comparatively simple in construction, easy to inflate, du rable, and withal highly practicable and eflicient.

Other objects and advantages Will appear in the course of the following description.

I attain the objects and secure the advantages of my invention by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a verticalsection through a band which embodies a practical .form of my invention, and-showing the same attached toand in place in a hat; Fig. 2, an enlarged sectional detail showing the inflating tube between the tubular member and the side of the hat, and, Fig. 3, a similar section showing said band turned downwardly outside of said hat in inflating position.

Similar reference characters designate similar parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings ahatis represented at 1, and sewed or stitched at 2 torsaid-h-at, at or near the bottom edge thereof, is a band which is described in detail as follows:

The principal element in the aforesaid band is a hollow -or tubular member that consists of an outer side 3, andaninner side made up of alnedinm thick, non-head-engaging portion 42 at the top, a very thin, head-engaging portion 5 below, a reinforced or thickened part 6 that separates said second-named from'said first-named portion, a reinforced or thickened part 7 which is at the bottom of and junction between said outer and inner sides, and forms the stitching or sewingedge of the band, a reinforced or thickened part 8 at the bottom of said head-engaging portion, and a thin part 9 between said parts '4" and 8 to form a hinge.

In addition to the tubular member thereis a thin rubber, inflating tube lO-attached .to theouter side-3. and opening atone end into mouth of the tube 10, and athread or elasticband, as 13, is applied outside of said tube adjacent to the outer terminal thereof, for the purpose of assisting in retaining said plug in place in the tube. The plug 12 may be slightly larger than the flaring mouth of the tube 10, in order to insure a tight fit between the parts and secure an air-tight closure.

The outer side 3 may be thicker and less elastic than the other thin portions of the band, and is adapted to liesnugly against side of the hat 1 all the way around. The portion 4 of the inner side of the tubular member extends from the upper edge of the outer side 3 inwardly and downwardly to the reenforcement 6, and such portion being thicker or less elastic than the portion 5 is not distended sufliciently, when said tubular member is inflated, to come into contact with the head, but leaves that office or function entirely to said portion 5.

In practice, assuming that the tubular member has been properly stitched at 2 to the lower edge portion of the side of the hat 1, said member is turned downwardly and outwardly into the position shown in Fig. 3, the inner side bending on the hinge 9 and the outer side bending on the sewing edge or reenforcement 7. The inflating tube 10 is now accessible. The elastic-band 13 is removed from and the plug 12 taken out of the tube 10, and the mouth is applied to the outer end of said tube and air blown through the tube into the hollow member until the same is inflated to the required degree, when said plug is returned to place in the mouth of the tube, and said elastic-band is wound around the plug-engaging terminal of the tube. The tube 10 is now sealed at the outer end so that no air can escape from the hollow member through said tube. Then and as the final act the tubular member is turned upwardly into the interior of the hat, with the tube 10 and the plug 12 disposed between the outer side 3 and the contiguous side of the hat, said outer side yielding sufficiently to enable this to be done. The inward thrust tends inwardly well beyond the other parts and portions of said band, alone comes into contact with the head, as previously observed, and such head-engaging portion readily conforms to the shape of the head, due to the thinness of such portion, and to the fact that the same is under the proper degree of air pressure.

The band must be inflated more when the same is required to fit a small head than when it is required to fit a large head, as will be readily understood. The adjustable feature of my band, whereby it can be fitted to heads of different sizes, merely by varying the amount of the inflation, is important and valuable, because with the band aless number of hats of different sizes need be pro vided.

It is to be understood that the above description and accompanying drawings comprehend only the general and preferred embodiment of my invention, and that various changes in details of construction, proportion and arrangement of parts, material, etc.. may be made within the scope of the ap' pended claims.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An interior hat band comprising a tubular inflatable member having a continuous circumferential head-engaging portion which is capable of being distended inwardly, by the air in said member, beyond any other part or portion of said member,

and continuous circumferential reinforced parts above and below said head-engaging portion.

2. An interior hat band comprising a tubular inflatable member having a continu ous circumferential head-engaging portion which is capable of being distended inwardly, by the air in said member, beyond any other part or portion of said member, reinforcements above and below said headengaging portion, an outer side, and a continuous circumferential non-head-engaging portion extending from the top of said outer side to the upper reinforcement, said headengaging portion being more flexible than said non-head-engaging portion.

3. An interior hat band comprising a tubular inflatable member consisting of an outer side, and an inner side made up of a continuous circumferential non-head-engaging portion, a thinner continuous circumferential head-engaging portion, a thin part to form a hinge, a reinforcement between said head-engaging portion and said nonhead-engaging portion, and a reinforcement between said headengaging portion and said hinge-forming part.

4-. An interior hat band comprising a tubular inflatable member consisting of an outer side, and an inner side made up of a continuous circumferential non-head-engaging portion, a thinner continuous circumferential head-engaging portion,a thin part to form a hinge, a reinforcement between said head-engaging portion and said non head-engaging portion, and a reinforcement between said head-engaging portion and said hinge-forming part, and a reinforcement forming a-sewing or stitching edge. at the bottom junction between said outer and inner sides.

5. An interior hat band comprising a hollow inflatable member which consists of an outer side provided with inflating means adapted to lie entirely between said side and the contiguous side of a hat, and an inner side made up of a non-head-engaging portion, a thinner continuous circumferential head-engaging portion, a thin part to form a hinge, a reinforcement between said headengaging portion and said non-head-engaging portion, a reinforcement between said head-engaging portion and said hinge-forming part, and a reinforcement forming a sewing or stitching edge at the bottom junction between said outer and inner sides.

6. An interior hat band comprising a hollow inflatable member which consists of an outer side, and an inner side made up of a continuous circumferential non-head-engaging portion, a thinner continuous circumferential head-engaging portion, a thin part to form a hinge, a reinforcement between said head-engaging portion and said nonhead-engaging portion, a reinforcement between said head-engaging portion and said hinge-forming part, a reinforcement forming a sewing or stitching edge at the bottom junction between said outer and inner sides, and a flexible tube attached to said outer side and provided with a plug, said tube opening into the interior of said tubular member.

t 7. An interior hat band comprising a hollow inflatable member which consists of an outer side, and an inner side made up of a continuous circumferential non-head-engaging portion, a thinner continuous circumferential head-engaging portion, a thin part to form a hinge, a reinforcement between said head-engaging portion and said nonhead-engaging portion, a reinforcement between said head-engaging portion and said hinge-forming part, a reinforcement for1ning a sewing or stitching edge at the bottom 'unction between said outer and inner sides, a flexible tube attached to said outer side and opening into the interior of said tubular member, said tube being thickened at the outer terminal to form a flaring mouth, and a plug receivable in such mouth.

8. An interior hat-band comprising a tubular inflatable member having a continuous circumferential head-engaging portion which is capable of being distended inwardly, by the air in said member, beyond any other part or portion of said member, and also having a continuous circumferential non-head-engaging portion above said first-named portion, said head-engaging portion being more flexible than said nonhead-engaging portion. 5

CAMILLE H. LOISELLE. Witnesses:

F. A. Cu'rrmz, J osnrn H. WILSON. 

